Personal Stories
Silvio's Story
I
was walking to the bus stop when my chest
felt like someone had placed a weight on
it. I slowed my pace hoping the tightness
on my chest would ease. It didn't, so I sat
in the bus shelter. I was gulping for air
and sweating but managed to board the bus.
The bus ride took 15 minutes and the walk
from the bus stop to the Edmonton Journal
Building was painfully slow. I had to sit
down in the atrium, but once I got to the
fifth floor receptionist's desk I could go
no farther and asked that she call an ambulance.
From that point Ñ about 11 a.m., April 24, 1998, until May
7, my memories are like snapshots in a photo album. I recall
the wail of the siren ... the pain spreading to my jaw and
teeth ... seeing my wife at the University of Alberta Hospital
... talking heads popping up around me ... a TV screen ...
my beating heart ... a voice proclaiming “The bypass
may not be enough to save him.”
Some months later a doctor told me I was
given a 50-50 chance of surviving and had
to be revived several times during the triple
bypass.
A week after the bypass my crashed Ñ I
had congestive heart failure, my kidneys
failed and I was placed on a ventilator.
My heart wasn't strong enough to pump blood
through my body and I was dying.
A heart transplant was the only alternative
to keep me alive, my wife, Marielos, was
told.
I was placed on the heart transplant list
as a “status 4” Ñ the urgency
meant I had but hours to live.
A matching heart was found in a little
over a day, and when I came to on May 7,
Marielos told me I had a new heart.
She had to repeat it several times before
I understood what she was telling me.
I owe my life to a donor and his family Ñ generous people
I will never know, yet no day goes by that I fail to thank
them. The wonderful blending of miracle and medicine has
given me a chance to live a full life once again. Medications,
diet and exercise have helped with the recovery, but so has
meeting other recipients whose positive attitude has been
a source of inspiration.
I know of no better way to thank my donor
and his family then to make a personal commitment
to make others aware of the benefits of organ
transplants and how the “the gift of
life” can keep on giving.
December 2006.
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